For people to benefit, the budget needs overhauling to create jobs; revive small businesses; address poverty and health and education deprivations. Pursuing the existing paradigm of growth may push GDP and stock markets up without improving the living standards of the vast majority

Expectations from the upcoming budget are huge in terms of giving relief to the current economy, increasing ease of doing business, and recovering from a negative GDP

Speculations are rife that the government may levy a Covid cess of around 4 per cent on high income earners to fund the coronavirus vaccination drive

Following the outbreak of Covid pandemic early last year, many companies adopted a work from home policy for their employees

\"The two per cent interest subvention scheme on loans has truly supported Indian MSMEs. We would like to propose that the scheme be further extended with enhanced coverage,\" Indian Chamber of Commerce president Vikas Agarwal said

Vivek Jalan, a Kolkata-based chartered accountant, told Business Today that going by the Maharashtra government's circular, it seems the states are going against CBIC

The government held initial talks on revenue-sharing measures, however, a definitive decision will be taken closer to February 1, when the budget is announced

Experts expect that further rally in the market may need the economy to regain its mojo for which the Union Budget will prove to be a ideal platform

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The share of indirect taxes, which mainly comprise of levy on goods and services as well as import duty, has risen while that of direct taxes - made up of corporate and personal income tax - has gone down in 2020

The revenue department has already started sharing such information among its wings - direct tax, indirect tax and customs departments

GST collections in December 2020 showed an unexpected year-on-year growth of 11.6 per cent to Rs 1.15 lakh crore, the highest monthly GST collection so far

With lockdowns heavily restricting physical store sales and consumers flocking to online mode of shopping, 2020 saw a dramatic shift in consumption behaviour and adoption of the digital medium

The government had notified certain changes to the GST Rules on December 22 and some of the rules are set to be applicable from January 1 next year

As per the amended Standard Operating Procedures (SOP), travellers will be kept under institutional quarantine after arrival and RT-PCR test will be conducted on the seventh day from the arrival at the respective hotels, institutional facilities at their own coast

Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague said Cairn Energy's India business reorganisation in 2006 before its listing on stock exchanges was not \"unlawful tax avoidance\"; ordering Indian tax authorities to drop tax demand

CBIC says new rule will help control those who issue fake invoices and show high turnovers but have no financial credibility; CAIT urges Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman to defer its implementation and terms it a \"counter-productive\" measure

CAIT, in a letter to Sitharaman, has drawn her attention towards Section 86B, saying that \"it is a counter-productive step which will load the traders further with burden of compliance and also much financial obligation\"

The Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC) has notified certain changes to the Goods and Services Tax (GST) Rules, bringing in stringent conditions for getting GST registration as well as for businesses to settle tax liability using input tax credit

The petitions, filed by companies like Hindustan Unilever, Jubilant Foodworks, Abbott, Nestle, Whirlpool, IFB, Johnson & Johnson (J&J), etc, seek to first address the question on the constitutional validity of the anti-profiteering law in absence of any methodology to calculate profiteering